Rains leave 14 dead; displace 24,000

The number of drowning victims rose to 14 while more than 24,000 remain displaced as rains continued to hit different parts of the country, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Two more people, identified as Henry Hulyete, 47, and Rey Ricaforte, 17, of Cuartero and Dao, Capiz, drowned in floods caused by rains that are among effects of the tail-end of a cold front, the NDRRMC said.

Earlier, five children in Capiz, a 50-year-old woman in Negros Oriental and an 8-year-old boy in Northern Samar drowned.

The tail-end of a cold front was preceeded by a low-pressure area that caused floods and sea mishaps, which left five people dead in the Bicol region.

The latest weather disturbance is now being felt in northern Luzon, where rivers overflowed and rendered five bridges in Penablanca and Tuguegarao City, Cagayan; and Cabagan, Isabela, impassable, according to the NDRRMC.

Cagayan, Apayao, and the Batanes group of islands may still experience inclement weather in the next few days as the “easterlies,” or winds from the Pacific Ocean, will still bring mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, the NDRRMC said 4,014 residents of the flooded areas in Capiz and Oriental Mindoro remain in evacuation centers while 20,829 others are taking shelter at the home of relatives and friends.

Initial estimates showed that Oriental Mindoro suffered damages worth P50.395 million in agriculture and P39.150 million in infrastructure.